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[Entered according to Act of Congress.] ' 



ANCIENT AMERICA. 



TWENTY-FOURTH EDITION. 



ID 



REFERENCES. 



From the Courier. 

New York, March 31, 1847. 
The subscriber, havinrr heard with much pleasure he Lectures on the "Antiquities 
of America," delivered by Professor Davis before the Pupils, Teachers, and Professors 
of our Seminary, choerfullv recommends the same to the citizens of this city. 

J. F. SCHROEDER, Rector of St. Ann's Hall. 



VVc are also hajipv in joining \n the above recommendation: — 

HON. JOPIN DUER, 
HON. MURRx\Y HOFFMAN, 
MAJOR GEN. EDMUND P. GAINES 
STEPHEN H. TYNG, D. D. 
G. SPRING, D. D. 
HENRY P. TAPPAN, D. D. 



'Vranslatlon of a Letter in French, from C. Cauda, Esq. 

To Profkssor Davis. 

Dkar Sir: — i cannot resist the desire to express to you the extreme satisfaction 
which the Lectures you delivered at our Institution, Lafayette Place, have given us, on 
the Antiquities of America in general, and those of Central America in particular. 
These Lectures, delivered with a persuasive and impressive eloquence, have given our 
young pupils much enjoyment. The judicious obseivations, and elevated reflections, 
have excited their interest, and caused them to study more attentively the subject which 
you rendered so attractive, and which arrested their attention. 

Pray receive our thanks, and the assurance of our high respect, 

CHARLES CANDA. 

Lafayette Place, Nero York, June 9th, 1846. 

From the Distinguished Ornithologist. 

Buffalo, N. Y. August 1st. 
I have read the " Antiquities of Central America, and the discovery of New England 
by the Northmen five hundred years before Columbus." by A. Davis, Esq. with extreme 
pleasure and satisfaction; and I feel much indebted lo that learned gentleman for all that 
he has said on this most interesting subject, in his memorable lecture above mentioned, 
and 1 trust that il will be as highly appreciated by all who may peruse it as by mvself. 
I take this opportunity to offer to Mr. Davis my sincere thanks for his goodness to me, 
and have great ])leasure in subscribing myself his friend and respectful humble servant, 

JOHN J. AUDUBON. 
L^ To A. Davis, formerly Chaplain of the Senate, &.c. N. Y. 



m 




ANTIQUITIES OF AMERICA, 



FIRST INHABITANTS 



CENTRAL AMERICA, 



DISCOVERY OF NEW ENGLAND 



BY THE NORTHMEN, 



FIVE HUNDRED YEARS BEFORE COLUMBUS. 



LECTURES 



DET,1TERED IN NEW YORK, WASHINGTON, BOSTON, AND OTHER CITIES. THE FIRST HAS 

BEEN GIVEN EIGHTEEN TIMES IN THE MOST DISTINGUISHED INSTITUTIONS 

OF KEW YORK AND BROOKLYN, THE PAST YEAR. 



BY A. DAVIS, 

Corresponding' Member of the New York Historical Society, Honorary Member of the New Fork 
Society of Letters, and formerly Chaplain of the Senate of New York. 



24th edition, with IMPORTANT ADDITIONS. 



BUFFALO: 
JEWETT, THOMAS & CO., STEREOTYPERS AND PRINTERS. 

1851. 



'D5f 



The increased popularity of the subject of antiquities, induces the writer 
to issue a new edition in stereotype. While the work is read with avidity 
everywhere, it receives most attention in the neighborhood of Boston, where 
the Northmen came eight hundred years since. Those wiis xlve in that 
quarter, and are the best judges of the identity of the places described by 
the voyagers, with their own shores, believe the accounts of the adventures 
related in the following lectures. Judge Colby, of New Bedford, has lec- 
tured on the same subject with success. On lecturing there lately, the copy 
of the inscription on the Dighton Rock, taken by him, was compared by me 
with that taken by J. R. Bartlett, Esq. N. Y., and they were found to be 
substantially the same. 

With emotions of gratitude for favors received, I am happy to state that 
I have at length outrode the storm of opposition the novelty of my sub- 
ject at first raised. An open sea stretches ahead under clear skies. 

If, in presenting the following facts, derived from various and important 
sources, and gathered by years of study, I should throw one ray of hght 
on the darkness of the past, my feeble efforts will be more beneficial than 
the most fascinating effulgence thrown over the writings of misguided 
genius. 



AINTIQUITIES OF AMEEICA. 



While the beauties of the visible creation fade on the eye, while 
nature reposes under the mantle of night, it is pleasant to leave the 
haunts of business, or domestic scenes, and come up to the lecture 
room to survey the dark scenes of the past under the mild light of 
history. 

If in the follovi^ing remarks I should not regale my readers with 
*' apples of gold in pictures of silver," it will not be for want of merit 
in my subject — the Desolations of Time; for on them nations are 
gazing. 

If the age of Leo X. was characterized by great attention to the 
fine arts, so the present is remarkable, not only for its devotion to 
the embellishments of life, but for progress in historical and anti- 
quarian researches. The most gifted minds of either sex are inter- 
ested in these studies. The crowned heads of Europe, instead of 
imbruing their hands in the blood of their fellows, have been spend- 
ing mints of money in unfolding the early history of the world.* 
That spirit of inquiry which awoke, perhaps, in the East, folds not 
its wings in apathy in crossing the Atlantic ; for here its develop- 
ments astonish both hemispheres. Knowledge is spreading over 
the earth, not like the morning beams, which gild only the moun- 
tain tops, but like the noon-tide rays, that penetrate the deep val- 
eys.f 

The active mind of man instinctively surveys the dark regions of 
the past, and would gladly break the unfathomable silence of the 
nations of the dead, and raise the veil whei'e their beauty and glory 
have slept for ages. This strong desire to learn something of those 

* The King of Prussia has lately established a professorship of Egyptian antiquities. 

t The following just tribute of praise was given by Mr. Davis, in his lecture. Univer- 
sity Chapel, N. Y., to tne Historical Society, in speaking of the progress of antiquarian 
research : 

" And are there not more stars in the Northern than in the Southren hemisphere ? 
So there are more constellations of intellectual light in the former than in the latter. 
And one of the most conspicuous is the Historical Society of New York. The light 
beams afar, and by its influence prominent men from foreign countries are being en- 
rolled among the names of its distinguished members." 



4 A LECTURE ON THE 

who lived when time was young, leads the antiquary, too often, to 
adopt groundless theories. But if there are counterfeit antiquities, 
there are those also that are genuine. 

It will be recollected that the avaricious Spaniards discovered 
and conquered Mexico in the North, and Peru and Chili on the 
South of Central America, in the first place. But at length the 
solitude of the latter was broken ; and there was discovered "El 
Dorado," about which the whole Spanish nation had so long been 
dreaming. 

The appearance of these ruins shows that a nation once existed 
there, highly skilled in the mechanic arts, and in a state of civiliza- 
tion far beyond any thing that we have been led to believe of the 
aborigines, previous to the time of Columbus. 

The antiquities of America may be divided into three classes, left 
in succession by nations more or less enlightened ; as the ruins of 
Central America, of Mexico and Peru, and of regions farther North. 

The first knowledge of the ruins, South, was derived from ac- 
counts given by straggling hunters. 

In 1787, the Spanish government sent out Captain Del Rio to 
survey the ruins. 

Waldeck, in 1822, published in London an account of Rio's dis- 
coveries. 

Capt. Dupaix was sent on a mission to Central America in 1805. 
He supposes the ruins were left before the deluge. Lord Kings- 
boro' gave an account of Dupaix's researches. His work I saw in 
the library of a distinguished historian, Wm. H. Prescott, Esq., 
Boston. This splendid work, at $400 a volume, cost the author his 
fortune. 

Waldeck visited Central America in 1832, and spent four years in 
that region. He took many drawings of the ruins, but on his return 
they were seized by the perfidious Mexicans. 

On losing the fruits of his long toil, he must have felt like Antony 
on being betrayed by Cleopatra : 

" All is lost ! 
This foul Egyptian has betrayed me ; 
My fleet hath yielded to the foe ; 
Fortune and Antony part here ; even here 
Do we shake hands." 

The late Governor Galindo, of Peten, in Central America, has 
corresponded with the late Lieut. Governor Winthrop, Boston, rela- 
tive to the antiquities of that region. For the great discoveries 
made, he received a premium from one of the literary societies of 
Europe. 

He, in speaking of one of the cities in the vicinity of Palenque, 
says that a gigantic Massica, or bread-fruit-tree, grows on one of 
the altars, encircling it with its powerful roots. The most remark- 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 5 

able trees growing over the ruins, are the mahogany, cedar, choc- 
olate, &c. One of the squares of the city is surrounded with six 
handsome obelisks, the highest of which is more than six yards high. 
They all bear, in basso-relievo, gigantic figures. One temple has 
eighty such figures. 

The temple of Copan was 653 feet by 524 feet in dimensions. It 
must have been as large as St. Peter's Church in Rome. Let us 
gaze on this mighty structure for instruction. It stands as a land- 
mark on the broad field of time, — it reminds us of the remote origin 
of a great ennpire. Centuries must have rolled away. Dynasties 
must have succeeded each other, before orders of architecture were 
introduced ; and a long time must have elapsed before an empire 
would become so luxurious as to erect the stupendous temple of 
Copan. 

Among the vast pile of ruins is found an architrave of black gra- 
nite, finely cut. Six granite columns are seen, each of a single 
piece seventeen feet high, and three feet in diameter. 

The Mayon architecture in Yucatan is said to be superior to that 
in Palenque. It is wrought in stone, and finished with great ele- 
gance. 

Gen. Santa Anna says that the antiquities of Central America are 
worthy of being placed in parallel with the pyramids of Egypt. 

Palenque, which lies 240 miles from Tobasco, lat. 17 ^N., is a- 
mong the most remarkable cities of the South. Palenque is a Cas- 
tilian word, and means "hsts for fighting." 

This city has been emphatically called the Thebes of America. 
In surveying its ruins, the traveler is led to believe that it was 
founded at as early a period as the renowned cities of Egypt. 

How immense the city ! It is supposed to have been sixty miles 
in circumference, and that it contained a population of nearly three 
millions. 

Palenque, lying about one thousand miles from Mexico, and be- 
ing elevated five thousand feet above the ocean, enjoyed a climate 
almost unequalled for its pleasantness. The natural beauty of the 
scenery was unrivalled, and the soil rich and fertile beyond any 
other portion of the globe. 

One of the principal structures revealed to the eye of the anti- 
quarian, is the Teoculi, or temple. Its style of architecture resem- 
bles the Gothic. It is rude, massive, and durables Though re- 
sembling the Egyptian edifices, also, yet this and the other build- 
ings are peculiar, and are different from all others hitherto known. 

The entrance to this temple is on the east side, by a portico more 
than one hundred feet in length, and nine broad. The rectangular 
pillars of the portico have their architraves adorned with stucco 
work of shields and other devices. The temple stands on an ele- 
vation of sixty feet. Among the ruins different objects of worship 
have been found ; and in particular, an idol of pure gold, about six 
inches long. Amid this wilderness of ruins are now to be seen 



A lecturp: on the 

fourteen large stone buildings, with many of their apartments in 
good condition. 

The antiquity of this city is manifest, not only from its nameless 
hieroglyphics and other objects, but from the age of some of the 
trees growing over buildings where once the hum of industry and 
the voice of merriment were heard. The concentric circles of some 
of these trees were counted, which showed that they were more 
than 900 years of age. Mr. Brown, who lives in the vicinity of 
Palenque, has a table, the entire leaf of which was made from a 
tree growing on these ruins. 

The following are the dimensions of one of the largest buildings 
in Palenque. Base, 310 by 360 feet — 40 feet high. Building, 280 
by 180 feet — 25 feet high. The piers have stuccoes finely painted. 
The paintings are like the frescoes in Italy. 

Wilkinson, the distinguished writer on Egyptian antiquities, says 
that those of Central America are similar to those of the latter, but 
not the same. 

Similar beautiful and majestic ruins extend 1000 miles. Hum- 
boldt visited a splendid building, 800 miles from Mexico, that forty 
years since was seven stories high. The Spaniards have demo- 
lished it, mostly to get materials for building dwellings and sugar- 
houses. Have not the Vandals of the New World made desolation 
more desolate ? 

Mr. Stephens' new work on "Central America" confirms the 
statements of tether travelers, while it heightens our wonder by the 
graphic description of the ruins of the desolated cities, especially of 
those found in Copan and Palenque. There, he says, " architec- 
ture, sculpture, painting, and all the arts that embellish life, had 
flourished in an overgrown forest." 

Among the specimens of the arts, he found massive obelisks, bear- 
ing on their sides sculptured images, and medallion tablets — large 
altars, ornamented with hieroglyphics giving a record of those who 
reared them — splendid temples, adorned with human figures exe- 
cuted in stucco and bass relief — walls built of hewn stone. The 
specimens of sculpture equalled any thing he saw in Egypt. 

In his second work he says, '' These ruins are skeletons rising 
from their graves, wrapt in their shrouds, claiming no affinity with 
the works of any known people." Long will these works of art 
stand alone in majesty and beauty, 

"And gorgeous as the sun at midsummer." 

The late Chevalier Fridrichstchal, attache of the Austrian lega- 
tion, spent nine months at the South. He found, in a place hither- 
to untrod by modern travelers, a majestic group of pillars. There 
were ten rows, and in each row forty-eight columns. With his da- 
guerreotype apparatus, he took a great number of excellont impres- 
sions. From these, when magnified, he has made drawings, which 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 7 

show the original, by their richness, elegance, and finish, to be the 
work of a highly cultivated people. 

Mr. Norman has published a valuable work. Rambles in Yuca- 
tan," lat. 20 ^ North. I have seen some of his remarkable antiqui- 
ties, as Penates, hieroglyphics on lime stone, the material of these 
buildings. He kindly gave me a piece of Zuporte wood from lin- 
tels found amid the ruins. It is hard, fine, heavy, and as lasting as 
time. Beautiful were the architecture and paintings he saw. The 
latter were in fresco, and as fresh, apparently, as if recently execut- 
ed. The colors were sky blue and light green. Mr. N. thinks the 
cities of the South are of very remote origin ; that they were anti- 
quities before the Christian era. 

It is natural that we should linger around these inanimate ob- 
jebts. They remind us of splendid cities that, like Troy, once 
"were." But, above all, they tell us of the illustrious of other 
days. What are ruins to us, but as they remind us of the enter- 
prise and wisdom of those who reared them 1 What were Car- 
thage without the recollection of the ill-fated Dido, or the daring 
deeds of HannibaH And what will Mount Vernon be, centuries 
hence, to our posterity, but as it will remind them of the valor, pa- 
triotism, and virtues of the Father of our Republic '? 

The monumental history of Central America tells us that this is 
not a J^ew World. And we awake with astonishment that there 
was once the seat of a great empire, before David reigned over the 
twelve tribes of Israel, or Octavius waved his sceptre over the civil- 
ized world. 

But alas ! the foundations of cities as magnificent as those that 
adorned the banks of the Nile, have vanished hke the generations 
before the flood. 

" Every house is builded by some man," but who erected the 
splendid temples of Palenque, none can tell, save " He who made 
all things." Unnumbered centuries have passed away since the 
noon-day of Palencian glory. There the wing of endless night 
broods over all that was once beautiful and grand — 

'• Where senates once the weal of nations planned 
Hisseth the gliding snake, through hoary weeds 
That clasp the mouldering columns," 

Oh ! that some mighty genius like that of Belzoni, would arise 
and remove from this city of the world called new^ the veil that 
conceals its origin. 

It is supposed by Stephens and Norman that the hieroglyphics 
of the South, will, like those of Egypt, at length be deciphered. In 
anticipation of those developments, well may we exclaim, " visions 
of glory spare our aching sight." Deep shades rest on the anti- 
quities of America, yet a few feeble rays of light enliven the gloom. 

That spirit of inquiry that animates all classes in our country 



8 A LECTURE ON THE 

may yet lead to the reading of the dark characters of the South, as 
Dr. Lepsius of Prussia, a disciple of Champolion, has deciphered 
the hieroglyphics of Egypt. Champolion saw on the Rosetta stone 
three inscriptions — the Greek, the Enchorial or national, and the 
Hieroglyphic ; by reading the former he was enabled to read the 
two latter. 

It is supposed that these cities were destroyed by some internal 
convulsion, or, like those of the South of Europe, were overwhelm- 
ed by the barbarians of the North. 

Possibly famine or pestilence might have desolated that fair re- 
gion. It is not singular that it should have been concealed from 
view for ages, when we recollect that cities of the eastern contin- 
ent have, in like manner, remained in oblivion till of late. We 
allude to the ruins of Paestum, in Campania, of Italy, and those of 
Petra of Idumia, in Asia. A new forest, hid for centuries — the for- 
mer from the degenerate sons of Rome, while the splendid struc- 
tures of Petra were known only to Bedouins for over a thousand 
years. Who does not delight to read about the roses of Paestum 1 
Yet they still unfold their inimitable petals amid the ruins of palaces, 
and beside the dilapidated temples. 

Do we admire the boundless forests, the lofty mountains, and the 
majestic rivers of our hemisphere ? The vast wilderness of ruins, 
once enlivened by intelligent beings, should demand a higher claim 
to our admiration. 

The antiquities of America stretch from the great lakes of the 
North and West, to the southern parts of Peru ; from the Alle- 
ghany mountains on the East, to the Rocky mountains on the 
West ; and even from the Pacific to the Atlantic ocean. 

The Mexicans hold the next place in the scale of civilization t-o 
the Central Americans. 

The Toltecs probably came into Anahauc, or the vale of Mexico, 
at the close of the seventh century. They flourished four centu- 
ries, and suddenly disappeared. They were an enlightened and 
amiable people. Though pagans, they did not, like the Aztecs, who 
took possession of the country in 1325, offer up human sacrifices. 

Although the Aztecs, or Mexicans, excelled in astronomy, archi- 
tecture, the fine arts, agriculture, legislation, jurisprudence, and the 
display of many of those social virtues that dignify humanity, yet 
their theology cast a dark shade over all the attractions their history 
otherwise displays. 

They believed in one supreme God, in thirteen subordinate dei- 
ties, and over two hundred inferior ones. The God who received 
the most devotion, was Mars, their god of war. On his altar human 
victims bled. To this Moloch of the West, twenty thousand, at 
least, were offered annually ! Such is man where he sees not the 
attributes of God in the "things that are made." Yes, all nature 
is but the reflection of the true God. The modest violet, fresh from 
the sleep of winter, tells him that there is a God, and that He is 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 9 

great and good. — [See Rom., 1. 20.] Nought but the bright beams 
of the " Sun of Righteousness" can dissipate the darkness with 
which man has enshrouded his moral nature. 

Remarkable was the progress of the Mexicans in the science of 
astronomy. Their year was divided into eighteen months of 
twenty days each ; and five unlucky days. As the year is com- 
posed of nearly six hours more than three hundred and sixty-five 
days, there still remained an excess, which they provided for by 
intercalation. At the expiration of fifty-two years, the end of a 
cycle, they interposed twelve and a half days, the number which 
had fallen in arrear. Time was marked on their calendar stones 
with as much accuracy as is evinced by the modern improvements 
of astronomy, in two minutes and nine seconds in the year. I have 
seen in the Museum of Mexican antiquities belonging to the Philo- 
sophical Society, Philadelphia, a beautiful representation of a large 
calendar stone to be seen in the city of Mexico. 

If the Carthagenians excelled in navigation, the Mexicans were 
pre-eminent in a sublime pursuit. Nature impresses on the multi- 
tude of minds a various bias. To the Mexicans 



" She taught the fabric of the spheres ; 

The changeful moon, the circuit of the stars, 
The golden zones of heaven." 

How magnificent must have been that temple in Mexico, at 
whose altars five thousand priests officiated ! But the city of Tez- 
cuco, on the opposite shore of the lake, was still the seat of a higher 
advance in civilization than was displayed in Mexico. It was the 
capital of a splendid kingdom of that name. It was the Athens of 
the Western World. The King erected a magnificent pile of 
buildings. It extended from East to West, 1234 yards, and from 
North to South, 978. Innumerable were the attractions that met 
the eye on wandering through the courts of this majestic structure. 

As walls incrusted with alabasters and richly-tinted stucco, tapes- 
tries of variegated feather work, gardens with baths, and sparkling 
fountains overshadowed by groves of cypress and cedar. There 
nature seemed ever dressed in her bridal robes ; there light and 
shade combined to perfect the landscape. 

While America excels the Eastern continent in the magnitude of 
its rivers and mountains, it can present also the largest pyramid on 
the globe, — that of Cholula, six miles from Puebla, Mexico. It 
covers 44 acres. It is 205 feet high. Its top includes one acre. 
On this lofty eminence in days of yore, stood an altar where human 
victims were immolated to appease the wrath of the angry deity 
whose image stood near. And strange to tell, their bodies were 
afterwards devoured as a religious rite ! 

Ah, could those " morning stars " that sang together at the birth 
of a fair creation, weep, would they not shed tears on witnessing the 
^^arbarity of those " who sought out many inventions." 



10 A LECTURE ON THE 

In contemplating the Mexicans, we are reminded of the imj3or- 
tance of revelation ; for though enlightened, yet, " by wisdom they 
knew not God." 

If the Central Americans came from the plains of Shinar, it is 
supposed the Mexicans emigrated from the North West. Baron 
Von Humboldt says the Mexicans had many traditions of the fall 
of man, and of the flood, and he thinks they came originally from 
Aztland, lat. 42'' north. 

John Delafield, Jr., Esq., has published an interesting work on 
the antiquities of Mexico. He thinks the Mexicans " emigrated 
from the North, and on their way constructed the various tumuli, 
embankments, fossa, &c., found in Western North America." An 
"Atzec map" some 14 feet in length, accompanies the volume, 
and explains the travels of this race through America. 

On larther inquiry, I find there are some specimens of antiquity 
in Mexico, that were probably left by the same extinct class as 
those who built the cities of Central America. These antiquities 
are seen in the reliefs on the Sacrificial Stone, and on the Pyra- 
mid of Xocicalco. 

As to the antiquities of the Peruvians, who were on a parallel 
with the Mexicans as to civilization, see Appendix. 

The antiquities of North America consist of fortifications, mounds, 
pottery, metallic instruments, &c. They must have been left by 
intelligent nations at an early period. This is evident from the 
remark of the late President Harrison. He observes that it would 
take the trees growing where a forest was cut down fifty years 
since, five hundred years to equal in height the surrounding woods, 
and that a forest of the largest trees at the mouth of the Great 
Miami, consisting of fifteen acres, covers the ruins left by former 
races. 

There are the remains of a fortification 60 miles west of Mil- 
waukie, including an area of many acres of land. Large trees are 
growing on the walls. I have a piece of the burnt brick of which 
they are built. This place is called Aztland. 

Thave also a piece of a pillar found fifteen feet below the surface 
of the earth in Chautauque county, N. Y. Nameless are similar anti- 
quities the curious and intelligent are bringing to light from various 
parts. 

The people of Ohio, living in a land of monuments, are much 
interested in the study of antiquities. 

Mr. Squier of Chilicothe, has found some remarkable antiquities 
in mounds of that vicinity. He has penetrated a large number of 
the ancient tumuli. He divides them mainly into three classes. 
The first was erected for sacrificial altars, such being found under 
the different strata. The second were built as burial places, and 
the third for places of look-out. 

In addition to the valuable essay I heard Mr. Squier read in New 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 11 

York on antiquities, 1 saw the following remarks on his discov- 
eries from the New York Courier : — 

" His specimen surprised the [Ethnological] Society, as they 
furnish evidence of a skill and taste in sculpture, far surpassing any- 
thing exhibited by the existing tribes. He found the figures of about 
one hundred animals of ditferent species in all the departments of 
Zoology, formed with such accuracy, as to be readily distinguishable, 
and many of them shaped with almost perfect accuracy, and finished 
in detail as if by superior workmen, showing a liveliness of impres- 
sion, which would lead to the conclusion that they were the portraits 
of birds, beasts, fish and reptiles." 

Dr. Davis was connected with Mr. Squier in these researches. 
The Smithsonian Institute at Washington have just pubUshed a 
magnificent work, giving an account of their discoveries. The 
Historical Society in New York are now employing Mr. Squier to 
investigate the antiquities in the western part of the State. Mr. 
Squier thinks the mounds of New York, unlike those of Ohio, are 
of recent origin. 

First Inhabitants of Jlmerica. — We will not say, as the Athenians 
said of their nation, that the first inhabitants of America were cre- 
ated when the sun was first lit up in the sky ; but we must presume 
they early reached this continent from the old world. 

The learned Dr. Clarke says that the continents were once united, 
but that, by the force of winds and waves, the isthmuses were broken 
up and formed into islands along the coasts. Easy, however, is the 
transition from the East to the West, by the way of Bhering's straits, 
when we consider that they are only thirteen leagues wide. 

Adverse winds, also, might have driven the frail vessels of the 
ancients to the region lying on the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere. 

But as tropical animals found in America could not have crossed 
over by Bhering's straits when frozen, they must have come by 
land that once extended from Asia or Africa to America in the 
torrid zone. Should it be asked why certain animals, as the horse 
and the cow, not found originally on this continent, did not cross by 
this continuous range of lands, we answer because the original con- 
tinent was divided as possibly in the days of Peleg, (Gen. x. 25,) 
before such animals had an opportunity to migrate. 

I am incHned to believe that the land that united the now two 
continents, was the Atlantis, spoken of by Plato, Homer, and He- 
siod. Plato saw an account of this land which disappeared, in the 
hieroglyphics of Egypt. I saw in the Jesuits' College, Georgetown, 
an important article on this subject. It was stated that there were 
the remains of a sunken tract of land once lying between Brazil and 
Africa — that such are seen also in the islands of Cape Verde and 
Ascension and others, and in the numerous sandbanks observed by 
Bauche in particular, who sounded that part of the Atlantic with 
g^eat accuracy. 



12 A LECTURE OiN THE 

Extract of a letter from Rev. Mr. Heyer to Rev. Dr. Van Vran- 
kin, ISew Brunswick: — 

" Mr. Davis advocates the theory that I met with more than 
twenty years ago, in ' Calcott on the Deluge,' that America was 
peopled by land soon after the flood ; that at that time America was 
united to the eastern continent, and that in the days of Peleg the 
earth was divided. The Hebrew word JVepelegeh, divided, as by 
the coming in of the sea ; from which the Greek word Pelagos, and 
the Latin word Pelagus, are derived. 

''I think from the plains of Shinar men and animals diverged in 
all directions. As it is said in Gen. xi. 8, ' So the Lord scattered 
them from thence upon the face of all the earth.' " 

As the Europeans on coming here found none or few animals 
peculiar to the Eastern continent, I think only a part of the various 
species preserved by Noah migrated west. Those left behind 
ever remained different from those found in the New World by the 
Spaniards. If this idea is new to others, I hope it may be consid- 
ered more reasonable than the infidel opinion, that men and animals 
were distinct creations here from those of Asia. 

I found this idea corroborated by BufFon, as quoted by Clavigero 
in his work on Mexico. 

Think you they would have transported venomous serpents from 
the old to the new world 1 

Ogilby, cosmographer to the English sovereign, 1671, thinks that 
men and animals came, immediately after the flood, from Armenia 
to Tartary ; and from the latter place to this continent, by a 
continuous range of land extending from Asia to America by Bher- 
ing s straits. 

I think with Georgii Hornii, who published his views, 1629, in a 
Latin book, that the migration to this continent took place immedi- 
ately after the confusion of tongues at Babel. 

By this primitive people, the cities of the South rose probably 
simultaneously with those that adorned the banks of the Nile.* 

After a brief survey of American antiquities, well may we, like 
the old patriot of Rome, ascend some lofty eminence and look over 
the wide space of desolation ! Where once nations met in the noon- 
day of their glory, now wild beasts roam and venomous serpents 



* The traces of an extinct race of men about nine feet in lengfth, are to be found in 
various parts, as in Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and New York. 

And is it strange it should have been said in the sacred Volume, "and there were 
giants in those days?" 

The lights of science and revelation commingle, forming one broad stream of light 
tliuL is not lost but amid the radiance that encircles the throne of the Eternal. 

As to the red men, clouds of obscurity conceal their origin. Mr. Schoolcraft, late 
Indian Agent, thinks they are of Asiatic origin. Many suppose they are the descend- 
ants of the Israelites. Vague are their own traditions as to their origin. Some Indians 
say they come from the East, some from the West; some from the North, and some 
from the South. Some think they came from beneath the earth; others suppose thej 
came from the skies. Ledyard thinks,the Indians are of Tartar origin. 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 13 

wend their way. To gaze upon the past, we must cross the mel- 
ancholy flood 

" Unto the kingdom of perpetual night." 

So pass away the glories of the world, with man its lord ! — There 
is nothing permanent, save in the Spirit's land, and if there be any 
change there, it is Eternity's rich drama of bloom and perfection. 

The eyes of mankind, from the time of Pythagoras, have been 
turned to the West, in anticipation that here new discoveries were 
to be made; and hither were the adventurers at length led. 

Seneca, Diodorus Siculus, Aristotle, as well as others speak of 
regions west of the Atlantic. 

It is thought Virgil alludes, in the following lines, to places west. 

In speaking of Augustus, he says that 

" He shall his power to India extend, 

Beyond the annual circle, and beyond 

The sun's long progress, where great Atlas bears, 

Laden with golden stars, the glittering spheres."* 

First known Discoveries of America. — The discovery of America 
by the Northmen, excites a vast deal of curiosity. And is it not a 
laudable curiosity that leads one to ascertain what white men first 
trod regions in which the modest wild flower wasted its sweetness 
on the desert airl 

As geography is one of the eyes of History, it would be well at 
this time to direct the attention to the map of North America, and 
to those of Massachusetts and Rhode Island in particular. 

The Royal Society of Northern Antiquarians, in Copenhagen, 
have lately published an important work. While the contents of 
this massive work are invaluable, its mechanical execution reflects 
great honor on the Society that published it. 

This work is called, as translated from Latin, " American Anti- 
quities, or Northern Writings of Things in America, before the 
time of Columbus.'' 

The determination was formed some years since by the Royal 
Society of Antiquarians, in Copenhagen, to publish the authorities 
on which these accounts rest, in the original documents, accom- 
panied with full commentaries and illustrations. The text is in the 
[celandic tongue. 

The inquiry is often made, " Who are the Northmen '?" They 
were the descendants of the Scandinavians, who, it is thought, 
sprang from the Thracians mentioned by Homer — a nation now 
extinct. The Danes, the Swedes, the Norwegians, and the Ice- 
landers, all come under the name of the Northmen or Norsemen. 

* ]n a paper read lately before the N. Y. Hist. Society, it seems that the inscription 
on a stone found in Western Virginia, is like that discovered on a monument of Thugga, 
at Libya. This circumstance corroborates the truth of the report of the Carthagenians, 
that their people, in early times, traded with nations west of the Atlantic. 



14 A LECTURE ON THE 

Their literature has been compared, in extent, to the literary- 
remains of Greece and Latinum. This opens a new fountain of 
research, where the scholar may often 

'* Return and linger, linger and return." 

This great work contains two Icelandic documents, now for the 
first time published accurately, in a complete form, purporting to be 
histories written by or for persons who discovered and visited the 
North American coast early in the eleventh century, *confirmed and 
illustrated by extracts from no less than fifteen other original man- 
uscripts, in which the facts set forth in these histories are either 
mentioned or alluded to. The Royal Society has already collected 
two thousand Sagas, or works of Scandinavian or Icelandic history. 

In this work, in particular, is found Adams of Bremen's account 
of the discovery of America, communicated to him in the eleventh 
century, by Sweyn, Esthryson, King of Denmark. 

1. Are these documents genuine X 

2. If so, why have they not been heard of before \ 

The work itself contains evidences of the antiquity and authenti- 
city of the manuscripts, from which the publication has been made, 
sufficient to raise them above any just suspicion. 

These documents, as Professor Rafn says, have been known to 
Icelandic scholars ; but these have been so few comparatively, and 
the means of those few so limited, they have not been able to give 
them a suitable examination, much less to be at the expense of pub- 
lishing them. 

How long did the ancient classics, for instance, lay concealed in 
the monasteries of Europe, for the want of some one to exhibit them 
to the public view 1 These Icelandic documents may have been 
in like manner, in the libraries of priests. And we may say that 
the Society of Antiquarians, in Copenhagen, in bringing these docu- 
ments to light resembles the conduct of the poet laureate, Petrarch, 
in the fourteenth century, who, at his own expense, had the valua- 
ble manuscripts of antiquity dragged from the dust of the cloisters, 
transcribed, and exhibited to the woi'ld. 

Who does not admire the lovely scenery, where the beautiful and 
sublime are blended, displayed in the succession of falls at Trenton, 
N. Y.t Yet these were concealed for ages, till a master spirit 
revealed them to an admiring world. And does not the raven wing 
of night hide the works of art, also, till disclosed in a similar way \ 
The learned of Iceland, though like the generality of poets, poor, 
yet were not disposed, like Milton, to sell their manuscripts for a 
paltry sum. 

It is well known that the Norwegians have long claimed the honor 
of discovering and colonizing America, before the time of Columbus. 

Instead of this discovery being a new fangled theory, as some say, 
there have been several works published in Europe upwards of a 
century, which speak of these facts. Wormius speaks of this dis- 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 15 

covery in a Latin translation, published in the University of Oxford, 
in or about 1716. In Adam of Bremen's account, published 1629, 
he uses the followinng striking language : " Non fabulosa opinione 
sed certa, relatione Danorum ; that is, in a free translation, " This 
is not a fabulous opinion, but a true narrative given by the Danes 
themselves." Dr. Franklin, in a letter to a distinguished antiquary 
formerly of Switzerland, says positively, that the Danes came into 
New England before the time of Columbus. Dr. Mather published 
an account, also, of the discovery in 1772. 

The celebrated Dr. Henderson, who, travelled in Iceland, says 
that the fact of this early discovery was well known to the Iceland- 
ers — that it was authenticated by Northern historians. It is a 
remarkable fact that Iceland, where these documents relating to the 
early discovery were preserved, was the Athens of the North, during 
the Dark Ages. 

During the Middle Ages, the Icelanders were the most intelligent 
people in the North. Even now, as Henderson says, youth can 
repeat passages from Latin and Greek authors, who have never been 
but a few miles from the places of their birth. Truly, the hardy 
Icelanders were our librarians and historians. 

Iceland appears to have been a medium of communication 
between Norway and Greenland — a stepping stone, as it were, from 
one continent to another. 

Iceland, thought by some to be the " Ultima Thule" of Virgil, 
was discovered by the Norwegians in 761. The oppression of 
King Harold Harfaga drove them there for an asylum. 

But the restless spirit of the Northmen would not allow them to 
be idle. They made incursions in every direction, and discovered 
Greenland in 984. 

In 986, a colony was begun by Eric the Red. This was at length 
destroyed. By the exertions of the Danish Society, the ruins of 
this settlement have been discovered. It was located on the West, 
near Cape Farewell. It is seen in the remains of churches and 
buildings. 

Lief, the son of Eric, commenced a voyage of discovery in the 
year 1000. His crew consisted of thirty-five men. Lief was the 
first to introduce missionaries into Greenland. 

After sailing some time southwest, they made land. They 
anchored and went ashore. This place was destitute of grass, and 
was covered with a slaty rock, which they called Helluland. This 
is supposed to be Labrador. Fishermen and travellers of the present 
day give a like description of that barren region. 

From thence they sailed southwardly ; and after holding on 
for some time, they again made land and went ashore. This 
country was level, had a low coast, presenting, here and there, 
bluffs of white sand, and was thickly covered with wood. This 
they called Markland, or Woodland. This is thought to be Nova 
Scotia. 



16 A LECTURE ON THE 

Leaving Markland, they sailed south-westerly, with a fair wind, 
two days before seeing land again, when they passed down a prom- 
ontory, probably the east side of Cape Cod, stretching east and 
north ; and then turning west between an Island (Martha's Vine- 
yard) and the main land, they entered a bay (Narranganset Bay,) 
through which a river (Taunton River,) flowed when they came 
to anchor and went ashore. Resolving to spend the winter here, 
they called the place Leifsbuthir, or place of booths. Here finding 
grapes plenty, they called the place Vinland, or Wineland the good. 
This land to those coming from the remote North, appeared as 
nature in the *' world's first spring." 

Early in the season they returned to Greenland. Lief's return 
became the principal subject of conversation. 

The next adventurer was Thorwald, his brother. And you will 
observe that he and the other navigators gave the same account of 
places they visited. Were not this the case, who could believe any 
of their reports 1 

Thorwald, thinking the country had not been sufficiently explored, 
set sail in 1002, and proceeded to Leifsbuthir, where he lived till 
1004. 

In the spring of 1004, he sailed from Leifsbuthir. After passing 
along the shore of the promontory, east and north, they sailed 
round a sharp point of land, called Kjarlanes. This must have been 
Cape Cod. Kjarlanes implies Keel-cane. For Cape Cod at the 
extremity, is in the shape of the keel of ancient vessels, which 
curved inward. These Northmen were peaceable men. They 
were not like Phaeton, who would gladly have seized the reins of 
the chariot of the sun to set the world on fire. It must not be denied, 
however, that the second great navigator, Thorwald assailed the 
natives without a cause ; but in using the sword he perished by the 
sword. On receiving a mortal wound, he requested that after his 
death, crosses might be placed at either end of his grave. 

The Catholic ministers, in giving an account of their first mission- 
ary labors in this country, speak of the custom of the natives in 
wearing crosses. Such must have been introduced by the North- 
men Christians. 

I mentioned this circumstance lately to the librarian of the 
American Antiquarian Society, Worcester ; and he said that a 
cross had been sent to that institution by a gentlemen of Ohio. 
I saw this emblem of the Christian faith. It must have been 
hid from the light of heaven for centuries. This silver cross is 
about two and a half inches long. It was found on the breast 
of a female skeleton that was dug from a mound at Columbus, 
over which a forest of trees had grown. On the cross the 
capital letters I. S. are perfectly visible. And what can these 
letters imply, but the initials of the sacred name Iesus Salvator 1 

Who can doubt, then, that the **Sun of Righteousness" cast his 



Discovery of America. 17 

bright beams on the land west of the dread Atlantic, long before 
the time of Columbus. * 

In 1006, Thorfins, or Thorfin, commanded one of the three 
ships that came from Iceland to Greenland. He was of royal 
lineage. 

In the spring of 1007, Thorfin with three ships and one hundred 
and sixty men, besides cattle and all necessary materials for estab- 
lishing a colony, set sail for Vinland. 

They sailed to Helluland or Labrador ; from thence to Markland, 
or Nova Scotia ; and from thence to Kjarlanes, or Cape Cod. 
Sailing south by the east side of the promontory which terminated 
at Kjarlanes, they passed along beaches or trackless deserts of sand, 
How descriptive of this bleak and sterile coast ! 

Those who have sailed from Boston to Narragansett Bay, are 
ready to say that I am not drawing an ideal picture. 

Continuing their course they arrived at an island. They called 
it Shaumey. This is supposed to be Martha's Vineyard. Nine 
men went away in one of the ships and never returned. It is said 
they were driven on the coast of Ireland, where they were seized 
as slaves. 

In the spring Thorfin and one hundred and fifty others went to 
the main land. They called the place Hop, the residence after- 
wards of King Philip. Here they found large numbers of skrel- 
lings or natives. Thorfin carried on a traffic with them, by exchang- 
ing bits of colored cloth for furs In consequence of their frequent 
attacks, in 1009 they returned to Greenland. Then, it will be 
recollected, the Northmen had not the use of fire-arms with which 
to defend themselves against the assaults of the savages. These 
lords of the wilds had a rude kind of engine, by which they hurled 
large stones against their foes ; and it is possible that the white 
man would have never driven the red man from the Atlantic to the 
Rocky Mountains, but for the invention of gunpowder. 

I cannot forbear to speak of the valor of one of this crew of the 
Northmen, a female. When all the rest were disposed to flee before 
the savage foe, she exclaimed : " If I only had a weapon, I ween I 
could fight better than any of you." Ah ! when we consider the 
patriotism of the females at the siege of Carthage, who cut their 
locks to make ropes for engines of war ; and when we recollect the 
courage of Isabella of Castile, who at the conquest of Grenada, 
though in ill health, led on her veterans to conquest and glory, have 
we not reason to suppose that this Scandinavian was sincere in her 
declaration 1 Truly valor and benevolence are but parallel streams 
in the female heart. We would not applaud courage , however, 
unless under the control of a high and holy principle. 

* Malte-Brun says, that crosses were worn by the natives before the introduction of 
Christianity among them by the Jesuits. In a French work from Denmark, 1 find a 
representation of crosses used there by the Scandinavians. On one were the Roman 
letters I. C, 1 suppose for lesus Christus. 

c 



18 A LECTURE ON THE 

Thorfin married Gudrida, the widow of Thorstein, third son of 
Eric. She accompanied her husband to Vinland. Snorre, their son, 
was the first white child born in America. From him descended the 
distinguished associate of Professor Rafn, the late Finn Magnusen. 
The late great sculptor, Thorwalsden of Denmark, was of this 
family. Bishop Thulock Rudolfson was a descendant of Thorfin's, 
and it is supposed that he wrote or compiled these documents. 

Thorfin, the most distinguished of these, returned to Iceland ; 
where he ended his days, living in great splendor. 

The editor of the American Antiquities, Professor Rafn, and his 
associate, Professor Finn Magnusen, think that Vinland was situated 
in the east part of Rhode Island, and in the south part of Massa- 
chusetts, on or about Narragansett Bay and Taunton River. 

The points in the Icelandic documents alluding to the locality of 
Vinland may be reckoned the Geography, Natural History, Astro- 
nomical Phenomena, and vestiges of the Residence of Northmen in 
that place. All these, in the opinion of the editor of the American 
Antiquities, point to the head of Narraganset Bay, or Mt. Hope Bay, 
as the locality of Hop, the central part of Vinland. 

As the Royal Society have held correspondence with sevcT-al 
learned societies in this country for some years, they are well quali- 
fied to form a judgment on this subject. Dr. Webb, now of Boston, 
formerly Secretary of the Rhode Island Historical Society, and J. 
R. Bartlett, Esq., of New York, have been very efficient agents in 
aiding the Royal Society in presenting this great work to the world. 

The following letter from the late General Holstein, Professor in 
the '' Albany Female Academy," will show the care taken to 
acquire information relative to American Antiquities : 

" In proof of the great exertions made by the Northern Antiqua- 
rian vSociety in Copenhagen, to acquire a knowledge of Scandina- 
vian Antiquities in America, I hereby state that several years since 
a letter of inquiry, sealed with the seal of the Society, was sent to 
a professional gentleman of Geneva, in this state a translation of 
which I made from the Danish tongue" 

The GeograpJiy of Vinland. — Concerning the situation of Helluland, 
there can be no doubt, as it was the first land southwest of Green- 
land : where else could this have been unless the coast of Labrador ? 

Markland was situated southwest from Helluland, three days 
sail, or three hundred and sixty English miles. This is supposed 
to be Nova Scotia. 

The distance of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick agrees with 
the account the Icelanders gave of Markland. 

Vinland was situated about two days' sail, or about two hundred 
and forty English miles to the southwest of Markland : and if Mark- 
land has been properly located, must be sought in or near the south 
part of Massachusetts. 

In the Icelandic documents, it is said that Hop, the residence of 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 19 

Thorfin, was situated on an elevation of land near a river which 
flowed south, through a bay into the ocean. From this the land 
stretched east ; and turning north, formed a promontory, which 
terminated in a point or cape, which they called Kjarlanes, The 
east side of the promontory was found by long, narrow, beaches, or 
sand hills. To those, who, like myself, have often viewed the 
Atlantic from these sand hills this account appears pecuharly striking. 

J\'*atural History of Vinland. — -Vinland was remarkable for 
its beautiful vines, maple trees, maize, and a great variety of wild 
animals. The waters abounded with fish and were occasionally 
visited by whales. Birds were numerous. The eider duck was 
seen about the island in large numbers. 

As to vines, they are said to be numerous even now ; and this is 
more particularly true of the country around Narragansett Bay. 
And was not an island called Martha's -Vineyard, on account of the 
multiplicity of vines growing there ? 

The celebrated Bishop Berkeley, who attempted to establish a 
theological seminary in the West Indies, says, in his letter to his 
friends m Europe, that vines were as plenty on Rhode Island as in 
Italy. Gosnald, who visited the Elizabeth Isles in 1602, says, that 
vines were in great profusion there. 

In the documents it is said that, in that region, are the red, sugar, 
and bird's-eye maple. The Northmen cut down the trees; and, 
after they were dry, they loaded their ships with their timber. It 
is supposed that the bird's-eye variety was made an article of 
commerce. 

As to the Indian corn or maize, it seems our pilgrim fathers found 
some in what is now called Truro, near the end of the Cape. It 
was buried in the earth to preserve it. Indian corn has never been 
found north of forty-five degrees north latitude. 

It is needless to remind the reader of the multiplicity of fish that 
still abound in the waters of this region. The sportsman may, at 
this day, tell his friends, in the language of Capt. Smith of James- 
town, who described this quarter, " of the pleasures to be derived 
from angling and crossing the sweet air, from isle to isle, over the 
silent streams of a calm sea." 

As to the whales, I have occasionally seen them spouting around 
the sandy shores of the Cape. 

In regard to the eider duck, in the Latin translation it is called 
" anas mollissima," a duck with the finest feathers. The real eider 
duck of Iceland is, at this day, frequently seen around Matha's 
Vineyard. Wild fowl must have been numerous there, as an 
island is still called Egg Island, from the quantity of eggs they 
deposited.* 



* Mr. Audubon says he has seen, in Labrador, twenty-seven nests of the eider duck 
within a very small compass. 



20 A LECTURE ON THE 

Thorfin describes the Soil and Climate. — The winters of Vin- 
land are said to be remarkably mild, but little snow falling, and 
cattle subsisting out of doors through the winter. 

This account does not agree with the description of New Eng- 
land winters at this time. Still, however, it has been the practice 
of the farmers on Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, to let their 
sheep and cattle lie out during the winter. But the cold winters 
of New England, compared with those of Greenland, are as the 
mildness of spring. They speak, however, of a snowy winter. 

But there have been great changes in the face of the earth and 
in the climate in different ages. Change is the law of nature. Has 
not one of the bright clusters been blotted out from the map of 
heaven % Such changes also take place in the face of the earth. 

The Dead Sea was, in early times, sixty miles long. It is now 
only thirty. And even old Ontario and Erie have receded from 
their former bounds, leaving to the present generation a rich tract 
of land several miles wide, and a beautiful ridge-road. Who does 
not admire the everlasting rocks, rising in stern grandeur on either 
side the Mohawk, at the Little Falls, N. Y. 1 Yet, the lovely vale 
above must once have been the bed of a vast lake. This is mani- 
fest from the fact, that there are "pot holes" found at an elevation 
of sixty feet above the river, at these falls. 

These circular excavations were made ages since, by the circum- 
volution of stones, driven by the rapid descent of the waters. You 
can see a demonstration of this fact, by looking at the high falls of 
Black River, or Ti^enton. 

And what a mighty labor was that for the waters of this lake to 
have found their way, gradually, through the high and continuous 
wall of granite where now the Mohawk murmurs as it rolls along 
its new channel ! 

Geological facts prove that it was much warmer, formerly, in 
the North, than it is now.* 

Large forests once flourished in Lapland. 

It is not to be disputed that, in former ages, Iceland produced 
timber in abundance. Large trees are occasionally found there in 
the marshes and valleys, to a considerable depth in the ground. 
Segments of fossil-trees have lately been exported, in proof of the 
alleged fact. 

It is asserted in the ancient Icelandic records, that when Ingulf, 
the Norwegian, first landed in Iceland, 879, he found so thick a 
cluster of birch trees, that he penetrated them with difficulty. 

Henderson, in his travels in Iceland, says that the climate has 
deteriorated there, from the fact that it was once shaded with 
forests. 

When the first Norwegian colony settled in Greenland, about 

* I saw two tusks of an elephant that were found at Mt. Holly, Vermont. They 
were found at an elevation of between eleven and twelve hundred feet above tide water, 
and twelve feet below the surface of the earth. 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 21 

1000 years ago, they found no difficulty from ice in approaching 
the coast, and a regular correspondence was supported by their 
people for many years. 

Astronomical Phenomena. — The learned editor and his associate 
deduce from the astronomical data, lat. 41= 24 min. 16 sec, which 
is the latitude of Narragansett Bay, and Mount Hope. There, at 
the winter solstice, December 22, the day is nine hours. 

That the Northmen were capable of taking latitudes, is evident 
from the circumstance, that at that period they speak of eclipses 
which have lately been calculated by Sir David Brewster, and the 
distinguished Norwegian astronomer, Hanstein, and found correct. 

I have a fine diagram, in a work just sent me by Professor Rafn, 
Denmark, by which it is seen that the Northmen calculated time 
accurately. They reached the latitude where, at the winter sol- 
stice, the sun rose at half past seven, and set at half past four. 
This fact settles the question as to where the Northmen came. 

Little can be said of the Vestiges of the Residence of the J^orth- 
men in this country. — There is a large rock at the junction of 
Smith's Creek with Taunton River, with a singular inscription on 
it. It was evidently made with an iron instrument. Passing over 
the particular remarks of the editor on these letters, I would give 
his supposition as to the meaning of the following characters : 

rXXXI AA 

PORFINS 

"Thorfins, with 151 men, took possession of this country." 
While Mr. Schoolcraft believes in the discovery of the Northmen, 
he thinks the inscription was left by the Indians. But Professor 
Rafn has deciphered an inscription on the Paradisic rock of Iceland, 
which he says proves beyond a doubt the European origin of the 
inscription in Massachusetts. 

There are similar inscriptions on rocks in the vicinity of Mount 
Hope Bay. 

The people of the North of Europe were fond of making in- 
scriptions on rocks on the borders of lakes and rivers; for such are 
found in Norway, Sweden and Scotland. 

One of these inscriptions, found on a rock in Sweden, has been 
deciphered by Professor Finn Magnusen. The inscription relates 
to a battle fought about A. D. 680, between the Kings of Norway 
and Sweden. Accounts of this battle were given by authentic his- 
torians. In a work just issued in Denmark, it is proved that thei'e 
are several other inscriptions found in the neighborhood of Taunton 
like the one above. 

Were the Northmen capable of making discoveries, and of re- 
cording them X The rude children of our forests could not perform 
a work so mighty. 



22 A LECTURE ON THE 

The Roman historian, Tacitus, spoke of the invasion of the 
Northmen before the Christian era. He says of the Cimbri, that 
they were not a small tribe, but mighty in fame ; that the vestiges 
of their ancient glory still remained in their fortifications ; that no 
other nation had so often given them cause to dread their arms — 
not the Carthagenians, or Spaniards, or Gauls. 

In later times the Northmen made incursions upon Germany, 
France, England, the Orkney, Faroe and Shetland Isles. 

The French v^ere in such fear of the Northmen, that they in- 
serted in their Liturgy, "A furore Normanorum, libera nos, O 
Domine."* 

In the ninth and tenth centuries, the Danes or Northmen invaded 
England, and seated one of their favorite princes, Canute, on the 
throne of Alfred. 

They v^ere a daring people — the sea v^as their home — the 
mountain wave was the scene of their sport — far and wide did 
they wander without compass to guide. 

Their vessels were built of timber that is now eagerly sought by 
the first maritime nations of the earth. 

A people some of whose leaders boasted of never having slept 
by a cottage fire, became the dread of Christendom. They ruled 
the waters from the Arctic ocean to the Azores — they passed be- 
tween the pillars of Hercules — they ravaged the coasts of Spain 
and France — sacked the cities of Tuscany — drove the Saracens 
from Sicily. They desolated the classic fields of Greece — pene- 
trated the walls of Constantinople. Yes, in rescuing the Holy 
Sepulchre, they led the van of the chivalry of Europe. Mark their 
valor and their success ; for one hundred Northmen knights, with 
one aid or squire each, drove ten thousand Saracens from Sicily. 
Scott gives a beautiful description of this remarkable people, in 
speaking of the Western Isles : 

" Thither came in times afar 
Stern Lochlin's sons of roving war ; 
The Northmen, trained to spoil and blood, 
Skilled to prepare the raven's food ; 
Kings of the main, their leaders brave. 
Their barks the dragons of the wave." 

In describing king Harold's, it is said : 

" And dragons' heads adorn the prow of gold.'' 

Seest thou the tiny fleet of some school-boy launched on an iso- 
lated sheet of water. And such were the greatest armaments of 
the famous nations of antiquity, compared with those of the North- 
men. 

The present illustrious Queen of England is a direct descendant 
of the Northmen. It will be recollected that Rollo, the Norman, 

* From the rage of the Northmen good Lord deliver us." 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 23 

invaded France in 912, and enthroned himself in the North. In 
1066, Wilham of Normandy conquered England. These sove- 
reigns were Northmen, and from their family the pride and glory 
of Great Britain descended. 

At the begining of the eleventh century the Danes and Norwe- 
gians were converted to Christianity, and thereby received a new 
impulse, that led them to extend the blessings of the Gospel. And 
who but this people could ever have established missions in Green- 
land ? 

What shall we say of the abiHty of the Northmen to record 
incidents of their voyages 1 

In the year 1000, on their conversion to Christianity, they adopted 
the Roman alphabet. This was their Augustan age. The thirst of 
the Icelanders for learning is seen in the conduct of Ulfijot, their 
supreme legislator, who, in 925, undertook a voyage to Norway, 
in his sixtieth year, to acquire a more perfect knowledge of the 
legal customs and institutions of the parent country. 

In Iceland the learned were called Skalds and Sagamen. 

The former were poets and historians. Skalds denote "smooth- 
ers and polishers of language." 

The Sagamen recited in prose, with greater detail, what the 
Skalds had recited in verse. 

By the recitations of the Skalds the real and traditionary history 
of the country was transmitted fi^om generation to generation. 

Memory is, perhaps, the most improvable faculty of our nature. 
Deprived of books, it depends upon its own resources. Its strength 
is seen in the following instance : An Icelandic Skald sang sixty 
different lays in one evening, before King Harold Sigurdson ; and 
being asked if he knew any more, declared that these were only 
the half he could sing. 

Their traditionary histories were written down and preserved. 

As poetry is among the antiquities of all nations, the events it 
records have ever been preserved by the recitations of Skalds, 
Minstrels or Bards. 

And whom does the conqueror of Wales cut off from the land'? 
Does not Edward the First of England destroy the Minstrels of 
Wales, lest they should, by their recitations, awaken that spirit of 
liberty in the breasts of the vanquished, which would lead them to 
throw off the yoke of the British monarch ? 

These Skalds were distinguished men — the companions of kings. 
They sometimes were kings, as in the instance of Regnar Lodbrok. 
The Sagamen made their recitations in public and private, at con- 
venient opportunities. 

If Augustus delighted to have Virgil and Horace on either hand, 
so the Scandinavian monarchs rejoiced to have Skalds and Saga- 
men in their presence. 

At solemn feasts, the services of these men were required. 

Saemr.nd, in 1056, collected the different poems relating to the 



24 A LECTURE ON THE 

mythology and history of the North. The collection was called 
the "Poetic Edda." He was a man of learning, having been edu- 
cated at the Universities of Germany and France. 

He performed for the ancient poems the same office which is said 
to have been done by the ancient Greek rhapsodist, who first col- 
lected and arranged the songs of his predecessors, and reduced 
them to one continuous poem, called Homer's Iliad. 

Snorre Sturlson, judge of Iceland, was the most distinguished 
scholar of his day. His principal work was the Prosaic Edda. It 
treats in particular of Scandinavian mythology. He Hved in 1178. 
His bath still attracts the attention of the traveler. The aqueduct 
of it is five hundred feet long, and is composed of hewn stone, 
finely united by cement. The reservoir is similarly constructed, 
and will contain thirty persons. The water was supplied from one 
of their warm springs. 

The general characteristics of the Icelandic tongue are copious- 
ness, energy and flexibility to an extent that rivals every modern 
language, and which enables it to enter into successfui competition 
with the Greek and Latin. 

Were not the Icelanders then capable of recording the events 
incident to a voyage of discovery ? 

The internal evidences found in these documents are in favor of 
their authenticity. 

Besides, there are in existence a series of works from the time 
when these voyages purport to have been made, down to the pre- 
sent time, which have been preserved, and which make mention of 
these discoveries. 

Distinguished men who have had superior opportunities of ascer- 
taining the merits of this question, have come to the conclusion that 
the descendants of the Scandinavians were the discoverers of 
America, prior to the time of Columbus. Among these are Dr. 
Forster, Mr. Wheaton, our late Minister at the Court of Berlin, 
and Baron Von Humboldt, also of the above city. 

In a work sent from Denmark are the following important re- 
marks : — Alexander Von Humboldt, who of all modern travelers 
has thrown the greatest light on the physical circumstances of the 
first discovery and early history of America, has admitted that the 
Scandinavian Northmen were the true original discoverers of the 
New World. He also remarked, that the information which the 
public as yet possesses of that remarkable epoch in the Middle 
Ages, is extremely scanty ; and he has expressed a wish that the 
Northern Literati would collect and publish all the accounts relat- 
ing to that subject. 

The Society of Northern Antiquarians has complied with his 
lequest, in publishing the great work before mentioned. 

Several respectable historians have inserted the above account 
as credible, in their works. 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 25 

The late N. Webster, Esq., told me he had examined the subject 
forty years since, and came to the above conclusion. 

Wm. H. Prescott, L. L. D., advances the same opinion in his late 
splendid work on Mexico. 

Besides Adam of Bremen's account of the discovery of America, 
this great worl<^ speaks of Bishop Eric's voyage to Vinland, in 1121. 
Although Thorfin's men were driven away at first by the natives, 
yet it is reasonable to suppose that they at length returned and 
formed colonies in this quarter, together with others who visited 
America, as named in the Icelandic MSS. 

If voyages were made, from time to time, to different parts of 
America, by the Northmen, is it not reasonable to suppose that 
some parts of our country were inhabited by them for a long time, 
and that Bishop Eric visited Vinland to perform Episcopal duties, 
and that the Northmen left evidences of their arts, in the antiqui- 
ties I will briefly name ? 

How fond is man to hnger around mouldering ruins — to fix the 
eye on the mutilated column overgrowing with ivy ! But are there 
not antiquities as worthy as those of art 1 I mean those of our own 
species. 

I shall make a remark on a human skeleton I saw, not long since, 
at Fall River, in the vicinity of Narragansett Bay. 

I had an extensive view of the region around Mount Hope, lying 
on the west of Mount Hope Bay. How accurately is the scenery 
portrayed in the Icelandic documents ! 

A skeleton was dug up a few years since in that place. It had 
a breast-plate or medal hanging down its neck, thirteen inches long, 
and six in width at the top, and five at the bottom. It had also an 
ornament of fillet work around its body, four and a half inches 
wide. These ornaments are maae of brass, or, as Dr. Webb says, 
of bronze. A knowledge of the use of this artificial metal implies 
a considerable advance in the arts. 

I witnessed lately an object of interest in the State of New York. 

Not long since a large oak tree, cut down at Lyons, was taken 
to Newark ; and on sawing it, there were found near the centre 
the marks of an axe. On counting the concentric circles, it was 
discovered that four hundred and sixty had been formed since the 
cutting was made. It is well known that a circle is the growth of 
a year. But the most striking circumstance is, that this large ca- 
vity, now visable, was made by an edged tool. The rude stone 
axes of the present race of Indians could never have made clefts 
so smooth as those 1 saw in the block at the hotel of Gen. Barney, 
at Newark. I have a report of a Historical Society in Ohio, de- 
scribing a similar cutting made with a metallic axe about three 
hundred and fifty years ago. 

On further examination, I presume this skeleton, whose head is 



26 A LECTURE ON THE 

different from that of the natives, was a Northman ; and that the 
cuttings in this tree were made by axes wielded by the descendants 
of NcTrthmen. For I find that the Icelandic MSS. speak of breast- 
plates worn by the Northmen ; and as to their axes, it is stated 
that the natives tried them on wood, and afterwards on stone ; buJ 
the instruments used by the former to cut down maple trees, could 
not withstand the use made of them by the latter, upon stone. Il 
it be asked what has become of the Northmen, and where are then 
descendants '? we answer : Like the mighty master-builders of the 
splendid cities of Central America, and of the fortifications, mounds, 
&c., of the United States, they have passed into oblivion. Nations 
seem to vanish in a day : — Like the 300,000 inhabitants of Moscow, 
who left the city instantly on the approach of the mad Corsican. 

There have been discovered beyond latitude 68 = , in Greenland, 
upwards of five hundred people, resembling those m the north of 
Europe, probably descendants of the Northmen. 

An important inquiry arises : Was Columbus aware of the dis- 
covery of the Northmen 1 From a letter preserved by his son, it 
appears he visited Iceland in 1477. It is thought by the Danes that 
he there obtained a knowledge of the discovery of Vinland. Al- 
lowing this to be the case, it is singular he should never have given 
any intimation of such knowledge. 

Instead of walking through Spain, leading his son by the hand, 
would he not at once have rushed into the presence of the sove- 
reigns, and acquired patronage, wealth, and honor, by telling them 
that the obscure Icelanders had discovered the regions he wished 
to unfold X 

His greatest enemies never accused him of having reached the 
New World by information received from Iceland. 

But as Columbus was rather artful, he might, from particular 
motives, have concealed this knowledge from the observation of 
mankind. 

After all, let not the circumstance of this prior discovery, cause, 
m our view, the laurels given to Columbus to wither on his brow. 
Let us ever honor him for his perseverance and his virtues. 

Let not Lief and his associate Northmen deprive him of what 
the voice of nations has awarded, the merit of having given, not 
to Ferdinand and Isabella, only, but to successive generations, a 
New World. 

Iceland, though but a speck on the bosom of the Northern Ocean, 
is not unworthy our notice. Though dark to the superficial ob- 
server, yet it shines with a lustre brighter than the fiame rising 
from its volcano. It is the light of knowledge. That obscure 
island is remarkable for the attention paid to learning. Even many 
among the common class pursue the higher branches of study. 
Their long nights are enlived by the custom of every member of 
the family gathering around the* bright lamp, while one reads for 
the amusement and instruction of all. 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 27 

The sources of happiness are not, like those of mighty rivers, 
hid from tlie view of most people. They are accessible to all. 
The Icelanders, living in a remote island, and cut off from the 
priviliges that milder climates present, are naturally led to look for 
happiness in the pursuit of knowledge. 

If the celebrated Pliny could say his books were sovereign con- 
solers of sorrow, cannot the Icelander also declare that when 
mountain waves lash the shores, he can find pleasure in the pursuit 
of those studies that mend the heart and enlighten the mind ! Ah 1 
yes, fondness jbr books will create an artificial summer in the 
depths of the most gloomy season. 

The sunny Italy may boast of the beauteous tints that flush her 
skies ; but after all, her effeminate inhabitants may be destitute of 
that happiness enjoyed by those who live where winter reigns un- 
controlled most of the year. 

The benevolence of Deity is seen in the contentedness felt by 
those who live in the higher latitudes, where, as a writer said of 
countries north of the Alps, Nature seems to have acted the part 
of step-mother. 

What a contrast between the condition of the Icelanders and that 
of their forefathers ! They were the worshipers of the god Wodin. 
And what were his attributes 1 He was styled the Father of Car- 
nage ! His greatest favorites were such as destroyed the most of 
their fellow-creatures in the field of battle. 

But the Prince of Peace has broken the sceptre of the Father 
of Carnage. The benign influence of his Gospel is seen in all the 
departments of government. Observe its effects as seen in the 
difference between the feelings of Lodbrok, a Northman king and 
skald, and those evinced by peace makers in Europe and America ! 
Those who, when storms are rising in the political horizon, instead 
of " letting slip the dogs of war,-' do all in their power to avert 
the threatened dangers. Lodbrok in his death-song says : " Eight 
Earls graced my Dwina's mouths. The crimson sweat of death 
poured on the sullen sea." Yes, he exults in seeing his laurels dyed, 
in the blood of his fellow-creatures. But the lovers of peace gaze 
in rapture on those of the Great Pacificators of both continents 
while verdant under a clear sky. 

Who would not award to such heroes rather than to Augustus, 
Ccesar, a place among the stars'? (See Georgica, B. I. 34.) 

This, as Cicero said of Rome, is the glory of all lands. 

"Wisdom and knowledge are the stability of our times. All 
classes become sensible that knowledge is the guardian of property. 
In every place they eagerly seek after that wisdom which, as Isoc- 
rates says, is the only imperishable treasure. Who can stay the 
progress of knowledge'? You might as well think of 'binding the 
sweet influences of Pleiades, or of loosing the bands of Orion,'"* 

* As the Pleiades appear in Spring, and Orion in Winter, Patrick g^ives the following 
exposition to the above oassage, from Job, 38 ch., 31 v. ; — " Canst thou forbid the 



28 A LECTURE ON THE 

as to attempt to oppose the march of mind. To swell the tide of 
improvement, it is pleasing to reflect that men of the first talents 
are engaged ; and that, through the medium of those lectures, 
which, if they are not the fountains of knowledge, are important 
guides to them. 

A word in praise of the Scandinavians. Like the patriarch, 
they went in search of a region, they knew not where. We 
praise them for their courage, we applaud them for their zeal, we 
respect them for their motives ; for they were anxious to enlarge 
the boundaries of knowledge. They reached the wished-for land, 

'* Where now the western sun 
O'er fields and floods, o'er every Uving soul, 
Diftuseth glad repose." 

The Scandinavians have opened to view a broad region, where 
smiling Hope invites successive generations from the Old World. 
Snch men as Caesar or a Tamerlane, conquer but to devastate 
countries. Discoverers add new regions of fertility and beauty to 
those already known. And are not the hardy adventurers, plough- 
ing the briny wave, more attractive than the troops of Alexander 
marching to conquer the world, with plumes waving in the gentle 
breeze, with arms glittering in the sun-beams 1 Who can tell the 
benefits the former confer on mankind ] 

" To count them all demands a thousand tongues, 
A throat of brass and adamantine lungs." 



APPENDIX 



Since the above was written, the following important facts have 
been obtained. 

Mr. Schoolcraft thinks, as stated in his address Defore the His- 
torical Society, N. Y.. that the pyramids and mounds of America 
compose a form of architecture equally ancient ; which can be 
traced back to the period of the original dispersion of mankind 
He asks, who shall touch the scattered bones of aboriginal historv 
with the spear of truth and cause the skeleton of this ancient so- 
ciety to arise and live 1 There is no evidence — not a particle — 
that the tribes came to the continent after the Christian Era. He 
observes also that there are evidences of civilized people who lived 
in Michigan and Indiana before the growth of the forests that cover 
these states. 

sweet flowers to come forth, when the seven stars rise in the Spring, or open the earth 
for the husbandman's labor, when the winter season at the Orion ties up his hands." 



APPENDIX. 29 

Dr. Dickeson, of Mississippi, has been penetrating a large number 
of mounds in the south-western states. In these he found interest- 
ing rehcs, such as mica mirrors, silver and copper ornaments, beads 
of jasper, agate, &c., similar to those found in Mexico. Several 
pearls of great beauty and lustre, an inch in diameter, have been 
found. By an examination of skulls. Dr. Dickeson discovered that 
dentistry had been extensively practised by this ancient people, as 
plugging the teeth, and inserting artificial ones, was common. 

The following is from the beautiful ballad of Prof. Longfellow on 
the " Skeleton m Armor," found at Fall River. 

<' Speak! speak! thou fearful guest, 
Who, with thy hollow breast, 
Still in rude armor drest, 

Comest to daunt me! 
Wrapped not in Eastern balms. 
But with they fleshless palms 
Stretched as'if asking alms. 

Why dost thou haunt me? 

How true it is, that wherever the sunlight falls, there appear the 
temple, the priest, and the altar. If in Greece and Rome we see 
a Venus smiling in marble, or a Pluto frowning, for such were their 
Deities, so in Central America we see, apparently, a representation 
of different Gods, as at Copan, Palenque, and Chi Chen. In Copan 
are obelisks bearing on four sides beautiful hieroglyphics and images 
of gods in basso relievo, while before such are altars six feet square 
and four feet high, having on their upper surface, like characters 
with those on the stone obelisks. On these altars it is supposed 
human victims were offered. 

In Palenque different gods were probably worshiped. Represent- 
ations of such are found on the walls of splendid buildings. 

In Chi Chen they must have worshiped "gods many," as is 
evident from the appearance of the idols brought from those ruins 
by Mr. Norman, and presented by him to the New York Historical 
Society. They are now to be seen in the Museum of that Society 
at the New York University. 

In attending one of the meetings, lately, of this distmguished 
institution, I heard an interesting letter read, from a gentleman 
who has been travehng in Yucatan. He said much about the 
beauty and splendor of the ruins, and thinks many antiquities are 
yet to be unfolded. Buildings have lately been discovered that 
were buried by the natives, in which were rooms made of hewn 
stone, and whose walls were adorned with beautiful figures, and 
paintings as fresh as though lately executed. 

Ah! had we powder to read the Monumental History of Central 
America, we might learn where once were forums in which a 
Demosthenes or a Cicero declaimed against the wiles and treachery 
of a Philip or a Cataline; where were groves as beautiful as thai 
in which Plato taught, and where principles were promulgated, 
surpassed only but by those advanced by him who spake as never 



30 APPENDIX. 

man spake. As it is, we can only behold the fragments of a former 
world. 

Although the explorations of Peru have not been as extensive 
as those of Central America, yet enough has been discovered to 
convince us that its early inhabitants were highly civilized. 

The late travels of Dr. J. J. Von Tshudi develope some interest- 
ing facts on this subject. 

Magnificent was the temple of Pacchacamac. The meaning of 
this name of the principal deity is, He who made the ivorld out of 
nothing. He was the god of the Yuncas. In the temple were 
images worshipped by the people. These were destroyed by the 
Incas, who dedicated the temple to the worship of the sun. Virgins 
of royal birth were appointed to minister within its sacred walls. 
In 1534, Pizarro took possession of the temple and murdered the 
virgins. 

Alas! while there Nature unbosomed her every grace to win 
man to deeds of mercy, the invaders, in the name of Christianity, 
committed acts at which humanity shudders, and from which mod- 
esty veils her face. 

This temple stood on a hill upwards of five hundred feet high. 
It was surrounded with a lofty wall that rose in the form of an 
amphitheatre. The hill is now covered with brick. 

The road leading from Cusco to Quito, and through the empire, 
was the finest in America; it was twenty-five or thirty feet wide, 
and paved with large flat stones. 

Amid the ruins were colossal palaces, fortresses, and temples. 
The walls of these buildings were made of square stones so finely 
cut that when united, a piece of paper could not be put between 
them edgewise. How stones could be wrought so beautifully in 
Peru, as well as farther north, without the aid of iron, is a mystery. 
Possibly the inhabitants had the art, as well as the Egyptians, of 
tempering copper so as to cut through solid granite. 

Among the important works lately sent me by the politeness of 
Prof. Rafn, Denmark, is a memoir of Einar vSockeson. He was a 
son of a distinguished ruler, who lived at the residence of Eric the 
Red, the discoverer of Greenland. At the father's request, in 1123, 
Einar went to Norway to procure a bishop. He obtained Arnold, 
the first bishop of Greenland. 

Among the specimens of antiquity sent me, is the representation 
of a church, built by the Northmen in Greenland, before the time 
of Columbus. It is built with stone walls between four and five 
feet thick. It has also an arched window, similar to those in the 
Old Tower, Newport, R. I. A particular account of this church 
was given by Capt. G. W. Grach, R. N. The Danes have found 
with certainty the remains of five out of twelve churches left by 
the Northmen in the eastern settlement of Greenland. 

Bishop Hawks has written a valuable work on " Lost Greenland." 
m which he speaks of seventeen bishops who successively presided 



APPENDIX. 31 

IK that country. The colony suddenly disappeared in or near 1614. 
I'je present colony was established in 1721. 

The son of a Danish Bishop tells me, he saw the Governor of 
Gieenland, an old schoolmate of his, who showed him a book pub- 
iisiied in Greenland, giving an account of these discoveries. It had 
a rude map of Cape Cod and Boston Harbor. 

X was assured by gentlemen in Boston, that the cellars in Bremen, 
Me., were left by the Northmen. They are walled up with free 
stone, unlike any found in that quarter. Large trees were growing 
over them. 

Mr. Baily, of Pittsburgh, who has spent five years in the upper 
regions of Lake Superior, says, the ancients once worked the mines 
there. A tree four hundred years old, was found growing over one 
of the furnaces. 

If any doubt whether the old stone Tower at Newport, R. 1., or 
the skeleton at Fall River, were left by the Northmen, I reply that 
we do not look to such as necessary to substantiate the truth of our 
position. 

Ah ! could Columbus rise from the sleep of centuries, and behold, 
not the eastern part of China, which, to the day of his death, he 
supposed he had discovered, how great would be his astonishment 
in seeing a new continent, once inhabited by enlightened nations. 
Would he not exclaim: Here was the primal land where once Eden 
displayed her lovely groves, enlivened by birds of every plumage, 
where crystal fountains gushed amid shrubs of the deepest verdure, 
and where flowers of all hues emitted their sweet perfumes. 

It will be recollected that Columbus believed that the garden of 
Eden was in Paria, lO'^ N. lat. South America, the only part of the 
continent he discovered, and where Hesperian fruits, if found, were 
found there only. 

This master spirit, who supposed his discoveries w^ere foretold in 
the Divine Oracles, never stepped but on the threshold of the temple 
of knowledge of the New World. For at the very hour he was 
kneeling before Isabella, whose woman's curiosity or woman's 
determination gave America to Europe, there were on this con- 
tinent, courts that in magnificence surpassed the court of Solomon. 

If we can judge from the past, we must presume there are many 
wonderful discoveries yet to be made in the Western Continent. 
Time is the mighty revealer. Its disclosures are as gradual as the 
approach of the morning light. At first the riches of Mexico 
and Peru, afterwards the remains of beautiful cities in Central 
America and the early voyages of the Scandinavians, were revealed 
to the astonishment of the world. But last of all, the flaming mines 
of California burst upon the eye, and invite adventurers from both 
hemispheres to gather in a golden harvest. 

But, alas! this harvest will be gathered not altogether by the 
first emigrants. The shores of the Pacific will be ultimately 
peopled by the enterprising, the intelligent, and the good; but the 



32 APPENDIX 

pioneers will be great sufferers. Flourishing states will rise on 
foundations cemented by the blood of those instigated by a thirst 
for gold. 

The adventurer gazing at the distant realm where more than the 
treasures of Ophir await his grasp, overlooks the dangers that 
lie in the intermediate way. To him the opening fields disclose 
their fragrance and their bloom. The breezes breathe perfume. 
But in his oward march, distance fatigues the eye and gloomy 
damps oppress the soul. Alas ! he finds too late, that a " man's life 
consisteth not in the abundance of things he possesseth" — that 
which is acquired by the sacrifice of all the endearments of the 
loved home he has abandoned perhaps forever. 

It may be asked, What does it matter to us what happened before 
the time of Columbus'? It is nothing to those who have none of 
that curiosity that distinguishes the inquirers after knowledge. 
And not to know what happened before we were born, even a 
heathen said, is always to be children. 

But it is pleasant to reflect that the spirit of I'csearch is abroad. 
And each new adventurer can gain new tropics by penetrating still 
deeper into the illimitable solitude of either continent. 

What important discoveries have been made lately, in the East 
in particular, by the laudable researches of the curious. The 
Tumuli of Ninevah have revealed to the antiquarian wonderful 
specimens of ancient art. On splendid slabs of marble, among 
other striking objects, beautiful representations of warlike instru- 
ments are found, and such as were supposed to be known only to 
the Romans, as the catapulta, battering ram, &c. 

Amid the ruins of Persepolis have been discovered remarkable 
mscriptions of the arrow form. Ey the exertions of Maj. Eawlinson 
in particular, these characters have been deciphered. They give 
the history of Darius, one of the kings of Persia, who lived 550 
years before Christ. 

It is well to remember that these discoveries in archa3ology often 
throw light on the sacred Scriptures. An instance mentioned by 
Bishop Potter, while lecturing on the connection between ^' science 
and religion," is worthy of notice. He observed that it ivas not 
known what kind of cup that was named in Gen. xliv, v. 5, till it 
was found represented as the Divining Cup among the antiquities 
of Egypt. 

To the reflecting mind avenues of pleasure open on every hand. 
Such witness the power and goodness of Deity written in starry 
letters upon the azure sky. Vistas of light and glory open amid 
the desolations of time. For from these an over-ruling Providence 
erects nations distinguished for every thing that enobles humanity. 
Yes, before those of every class who love study, the moral land- 
scape ever spreads before them 

♦' Bright as noon, 
Or gentle as the golden star of eve " 



From J. r. Schn>,uL,\ fj. D. C" 



B 



The Lecture bv Mr. Davis on Anieiicaii Aiitifiuilie)?, has atlorded me, ami the iiieiii- 
!)ers of this Institution great pleasure. Thvj interest of his subject and the manner of 
his impartinif knowledge, enabled liiiu to command the fixed attention of his audience 
lor an hour and a half. We wish him success, and unue in commending him to our 
friends. J. F. SCHROEDER, Rector. 

For the Professors, Teachers, and Pupi's of St. Ann's Hall. 
Nciv York, Feb. 11, 1847. 



From licv. Mr. Ciiiich, Boston. 
The Lectures now being delivered in this city by the Rev. A. Davis, on "The Dis- 
covery of the American Continent by the Northmen," and on the " Ruins of Centra! 
America," are exceedingly interesting. 1 had tlie pleasure last evening of being an 
j auditor of the first Lecture, and v/as, in common with many others, highly gratified. 
1 trust that Mr. Davis may meet with that success which he deserves. He has evidently 
l)estowed great labor and investigation upon this interesting subject, of which he has 
made himself perfectly master. 'I'hosewho attend Mr. Davis's Lectures wdl find them- 
selves well repaid for the time they may spend, by the instruction and pleasure which 
they cannot fail to receive. 



From Archbishop Eccleston. 

On the authority of an introductory letter from the Rt. Rev. Bishop of Albany, 1 
take pleasure in recommending the Lectures about to be delivered by Professor Davis 
on subjects to which he has devoted years of patient study and successful research. J 
trust that his reception in Baltimore will be as favorable as it has been every where else. 

Baltimore, Feb. 15,1850. ^ SAMUEL, ARCHBP., BALTLMORE. 



From H. P. Tappan, D. D. 

I have this morning, with fifty of my i)upils, enjoyed the pleasure of hearing Mr. 
Davis lecture on the Antiquities of North and CeiUral America. The subject is one of 
deep interest, and Mr. Davis has a happy tact in presenting the facts which have been 
gathered bv tiaveiers, and the important and startling inferences which antiquarians 
have made'from them. HENRY P. TAPPAN. 

\\l Carroll Place, N. Y. Feb. 5th, 1847. 



From the Protestant Chtirch/ium, N. Y. 
The Editor, Mr. Bradford, concludes thus: — "An exchange paper, in noticing these 
Lectui'es, says: ' The first related to organic remains found in the United States, Mexico, 
and other portions of the American Coniiuent, and went to show that this country was 
formerly connected with Asia, and inhabited by a iiighly civilized lace of beings. ' The 
Lecturer gave a glowing account of the efforts being made by men of learning and 
science, under the auspices of learned societies,, in legard to the subject of American 
Antiquities. Mr. D.'s second Lecture was a continuation of the same subject, confined 
mostly, however, to the discovery of New England by the Northmen, more that eight 
hundred years ago. A multitude of authorities were referred to in proof of this; as, 
also, important discoveries, and other cii-cumstances in New England and elsewhere, 
going to show that such was the case. Mr. Davis illustrated his Lectures with a 
number of drawings and specimens of antiquated remains, which greatly enhanced the 
interest of the subject. His discourses gave evidence that he had made the subject of 
Antiquarian research one of laborious study, and his remarks were highly entertaining 
and instructive."' 



From J. M'Canl, D. D. LL. D. Prcs. U. C. Universal/. 

King's CorxKGE, Toronto, May SOth, 1845. 
My Di:ak SIr: — 1 have read with great interest your brief condensation of the proofs 
wluc'n niay be advanced, of the discoveiy of America before the voyages of Columbus, 
and the evidence afforded by the ruins, recently discovered in the southern part of this 
continent, of the existence of a powerful and civilized nation, pievious to the ariival of 
the Spaniards. 

The snbiect is not one merely calcidated to excite the attention and reward the re- 
searches of anti(]uarians, but is also capable (as per testimonials fully demonstrated) of 
being rendered highly attractive in a popular lecture. 
[2 Believe me, vours faithfullv, '■ 

P Rkv. A. Dwrs ■ JOHN M'CAUL. ^ 

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BOOKBINDING 11 









